Liter of Light

About the organization

Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light), MyShelter Foundation’s latest venture, is a sustainable lighting project which aims to bring the eco-friendly solar bottle bulb to disprivileged communities nationwide. Designed and developed by students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The Solar Bottle Bulb is a device based on the principles of Appropriate Technologies – a concept that provides simple and easily replicable technologies that address basic needs in developing communities.

The device is simple: it is a transparent 1.5-2L plastic bottle, as typically used for carbonated drinks, filled with water plus a little bleach to inhibit algal growth, fitted through the roof of a house. During daytime the water inside the bottle refracts sunlight, delivering about as much light as a 40- to 60-watt incandescent bulb to the interior. A properly installed solar bottle can last up to 5 years.

MyShelter Foundation also established a training center that conducts workshops with youth, business companies, and other groups who are interested in volunteering their time to build lights in their communities.

Business Category

Energy & Infrastructure Services

Year Founded

What makes it a social enterprise?

Mission:To light a Million Homes by 2015

Using the technology as a social enterprise was first launched in the Philippines by Illac Diaz under the MyShelter Foundation in April 2011. In order to help the idea to grow sustainably, the Foundation implemented a “local entrepreneur” business model whereby bottle bulbs are assembled and installed by local people, who can earn a small income for their work. Within months, one carpenter and one set of tools in one community in San Pedro, Laguna, expanded the organization to 15,000 solar bottle bulb installations in 20 cities and provinces around the Philippines, and began to inspire local initiatives around the world.

Liter of Light on Social Media

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